cover image Syllabus

Syllabus

Lynda Barry. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (200p) ISBN 978-1-77046-161-1

Award-winning alternative cartoonist legend Barry (100! Demons) returns with the third book in a series of hybrid comics that are both instructional and engaging. This graphic memoir/guide tells the story of Barry’s first three years teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The book includes the syllabi for her courses in interdisciplinary creativity and most of the activities she ran with the students, as well as her personal musings about the classes. She includes student work and explores many fascinating pedagogical subjects, as well as deeper questions about creativity and the brain. She talks about what makes drawing interesting, and how her drawing style has changed as a result of teaching, with surprising results. She also continues her investigation of what an image is. This book is charming and readable and serves as an excellent guide for those seeking to break out of whatever writing and drawing styles they have been stuck in, allowing them to reopen their brains to the possibility of new creativity. Readers can pore over the exceptionally gorgeous graphic mixture of collage, inking, and watercolor for hours. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Poets & Writers (Oct.)